This invention relates to an endless belt stretched around a plurality of rollers, and also relates to a belt device and an image forming apparatus (for example, an electrophotographic apparatus such as a copier, a facsimile, a printer or the like) using the belt.
A conventional image forming apparatus uses an endless belt containing carbon black as a conductivity imparting agent. Such an image forming apparatus is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-14543 (see Page 2 and Table 2).
However, in the case where the endless belt containing carbon black is used, the aggregation or oxidization (or both of them) of the carbon black tends to occur because of the change in circumstances or the change with the passage of time. Thus, it is difficult to keep constant the electric resistance of the endless belt, and therefore it is difficult to obtain high printing quality.